Clatter
by Strife Mullet
Summary: But as I leaned forward, my foot slid off the chilled step, and kicked the entire ladder backward after it. [KyonHaruhi : Christmas]


Author's Notes: Yo-Yo-Yo, everyone! Having a nice December? God it can be a pain when you first submit a story, but I think I've got it down now! If you're reading, I obviously do, which is good! I'd like to thank you for reading it, but I'm not going to ask for special treatment since it's a first story or anything. I want to see how rusty I've gotten after not writing for so long.

I realize it's a bit rushed, but I had to make myself do that since I'm one of those types that the longer an idea like this sits with them, the more likely they are to pull out and abandon the idea all together. As well, Kyon's perspective and writing style is very interesting, and I tried to stay as true to him as I could, but it's far from the way I usually write, but that's how you expand, isn't it? Try new things and learn.

Well, hope you enjoy it, and have a merry christmas and what not. Or, Hanu.. Hahnukhah! Whatever it is you celebrate it, and however you spell it, enjoy it. Not enough people do, right?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters portrayed in this. It is merely a piece of fiction.

* * *

It had started out like any other normal day. Normal for me, anyway. Haruhi reminded me strictly not to be late to the meeting as usual, though for what reason I don't know. I knew the penalty by now. 

Speaking of, why don't you ever bring in something for the rest of us, Haruhi? Even just snack-cakes or cookies to meetings, seeing as you're the one who always comes in last.

"Because, Kyon, I'm brigade chief! I have to worry about maintaining our activities and pursuit of aliens and espers!"

Of course. I won't comment on the double standard, but this is all irrelevant to today's story.

The Othello game found itself discarded to the end of our table after the two quick matches I had with Koizumi, and a simple card game had taken its place. The divine gift herself was busy performing whatever magic it was that made her tea so enticing, and Yuki was reading something in the corner as usual. The first sound she had made was when she informed us that the last game of Othello had resulted in my seventeenth straight victory against Koizumi.

And then, of course, sanctuary was utterly destroyed by the deafening crack of the steel doorknob thundering against the wall of the classroom.

At times like this I would always wonder if the door was moving from the force of Haruhi or if it was simply retreating from her presence.

"Good news everyone!" came our capricious leader. And, with a pause just enough to open her eyes to show the shine behind her grin, she continued. "Field trip!"

And that was, basically, how I had gotten to be at the point I was now, stumbling my way up that ice-encrusted ladder, twin wreaths wrapped around my body, Christmas ornaments in my hands and a plastic bag of multi-colored tinsel secured firmly in my teeth.

I didn't know how Haruhi had managed to get a full-fledged truck to help us carry our tree for us.

Or rather I did, but I didn't want to remember. Sorry, Mikuru-chan.

And I also didn't know why she had to buy such a large one at that. Even after it was planted firmly in the ground, it was halfway up to the window of our S.O.S Brigade clubroom.

I shouldn't be surprised, and I'm not, it's Haruhi after all. Though to be honest, it is surprising that I'm not surprised by the fact that I'm not surprised anymore, if that makes any sense to you.

I can hear her down there, telling Koizumi to pick up the ladder and move it over so and so feet so I can make sure it's all "evened-out". She probably doesn't realize that his even tilting it a little when he picks it up will cause me to waver a lot up here. Or maybe she does. She's not stupid. Her grades show that.

So I do what I can do, and that's clutch to the sides of the ladder as he slides it across the fresh snow, and digging up some earth as he does, and I can practically hear him smiling.

But I suck it in, and continue my work. What can you say to Haruhi anyway to make her change her mind? It's not like it's a democracy, though she may ask what other's think, she always seems to go with whatever she thought of first.

Though I wasn't being sarcastic in asking, if you happen to know what I can say to her, tell me. I'm not going anywhere right now anyway.

I grip firmly on one more branch and try to loop this last ornament in, but it keeps sliding off back into my hands. I hear Mikuru-chan down there, calling up to me.

"Be careful, Kyon-kun.."

Oh, Asahina-san, your radiant innocence makes you the brightest star we could ever put on this tree.

She blushes, and again I'm not sure if I've spoken aloud or if her powers run deeper than we've been informed.

That red color stands out, and makes your pink maid uniform even cuter. But, no, wait. You've changed. It matches you now, this blush. It seems Haruhi had you put in a revealing santa suit, the kind that covers half the forearm up to just above the elbow, runs its straps over the shoulders and exposes the soft smooth skin of your stomach, with shorts that leave little to the imagination. All decked out with white fluff, and a cliche santa hat to boot.

I lean forward to slip the ornament further into the tree to stabilize it, and I hear Haruhi calling to me, telling me not to put it so far in, and that the branches will hide it if I do. I'd like to retort, but it's pretty useless right now.

So I settle for leaning in one more inch and using the excess string to simply tie it on, but she still isn't pleased and can apparently notice it from all the way down there, saying that I hung it too high and it's out of order of all the others. Woman, it doesn't matter, the tree branches don't grow in single file to hide their numbers. They're naturally uneven.

Where's the life-threatening danger? Right now of course. Maybe it was her yelling at me, or my focusing on Mikuru-chan from the corner of my eye, but whatever it was, I got distracted.

I had moved in to untie the ornament and try to loop it around some pine-needles, or possibly double branch it, but as I leaned forward, my foot slid off the chilled step, and kicked the entire ladder backward after it.

I found my hand gripping for something, the branches I presume, and they seem to catch it. They wrap themselves around the sticky wood, and my body flies into the surprisingly sharp face of the tree. I hear the branches snap as soon as I swing into it, and I close my eyes by instinct just in time to feel something scrape along the lid.

And so I fall, crashing through branch after branch, the daggers on each one seeming to shred into my skin, though I can guess it's one of those times when it just feels like they're cutting you, and you're just going to end up with a bunch of those white-turned-red lines all over your arm, like when you play with your cat.

Finally, after what seems like a much longer collection of moments (or time, if you want to move away from the way Miss Asahina-san refers to it) than it probably was, I feel the softness of snow behind my head. Though, at the moment, there's nothing particularly soft about it.

I hear the call of my name, though I can't really see anything. I can't open my eyes despite how much I try, but I still can hear the crunching of their steps as they close in on me. Somebody's already hovering over me, though I'd bet that's Koizumi, since he was right there by the ladder when I fell. I bet his face is really close to mine right now too.

Miss Asahina drops down onto her knees next to me and covers her mouth with her hands. How did I know that? Oh, I can see again. It's a bit fuzzy, but, that's got to be her: it's blinding how cute and pure she is, especially from so close. But the entire left side of my vision is taken up by esper boy. Yeah, your face is too close, Koizumi.

He smiles for a second, "Sorry," and pulls away, before resuming the worried look. I didn't fall from that high up, did I? I mean, I can't feel anything right now (though that may be a bad thing instead) except for something down by my hips. It can't be the wallet in my pocket, Haruhi took most of the weight out of that for me today. I suppose I should thank her.

But, where is she anyway? Tilting my head back, I can finally see her all the way back there. Her mouth's dropped open, and her eye's seem different somehow. It's like they're bright and alive, more-so than usual, though like something's veiled them and the light can't get through.

Finally, she shrieks my name as she comes running toward me, and though I appreciate the concern, she didn't have to yell it like that, as I would've been fine without having to deal with this other pain in my head.

Speaking of pain, it was really starting to hurt now. Guess the adrenaline rush was settling down.

Koizumi, as I just noticed, was fiddling with his phone now. He was talking to someone, and it seemed urgent by how quickly his mouth was moving, though I couldn't hear it over the hiccuping sobs of miss Asahina-san or the rapid crap coming from Haruhi.

Even in this state, I wanted to punch myself for making Asahina cry. And as for Haruhi, well, I didn't know what to make of that. Expressing such concern like that was unlike her, and.. her eyes were distracted. They ran off to the side on the ground, and though she at first didn't quit talking, it came to a halt with a sudden gasp that brought everyone's attention to whatever it was she saw.

Koizumi just sneered at it, and clicked his phone shut. Miss Asahina just went off into a deeper wail than before, and I went from wanting to hit myself to wanting to kill myself. Wait, no, that sounded bad, especially in this situation.

It was bad enough Haruhi's mind was probably fluctuating rapidly, as isn't that what your mind usually does in these situations?

I tilt my head to the side, and it's astounding how much it hurts, but I have to see what it is that they're so concerned about.

All I see is snow, but a wise man once said, it's not what you see, it's what you feel, or maybe that was what Miss Asahina (big) said, as she was one to talk like a fortune cookie at times.

But in my case, it certainly wasn't what I saw, and it certainly was what I felt. Whatever it was it was warm, and seemed to cling to my skin as soon as I touched it. I leaned my body up, raising my shoulder from the ground just enough to catch a quick glimpse at it before Koizumi pinned me down again.

I didn't get to see too much of it, but I was sure of what I saw. A lot more snow, but buried in it was a deep shade of red. Blood red. And as soon as I realized this, my head began to pound at me ten-fold.

It was then I felt Koizumi's grip loosen up, and a bright light gleam in my eyes. A light? Did that mean that I was dead? Or dying? But I didn't feel like it! I shouldn't be dying now! Maybe it was Haruhi, it had to be Haruhi! She must've been assuming the worst, and had already wished I'd go to heaven. Or maybe hell. I can never know with her, but the point is the same. She must be assuming things...

I looked around frantically through the blinding light, and I could barely see Koizumi with a look of relief on his face. Mikuru-chan too had seemed to begun crying a bit softer, and there was a smile behind it as well. Haruhi however was still the same; she was shivering, but I doubt it was from the cold.

I risked turning my head again, and as I did, I was again greeted with an assault on one of my favorite senses, in that my vision was met with a beam of white, and I swore right there that if I lived and this impaired my viewing of Asahina while she served us all tea with those lovely gentle hands of hers, I would kill the driver of that truck.

Hmmm, truck. So, that's what the light was? I hadn't thought of it before, but now Koizumi's phone call made sense.

The doors open and out flooded person after person, clad in white robes that made them nearly impossible to see amongst the snow and the light.

Suddenly I felt a pair of strong arms lift me up, with another set bringing holding my head, and as they shuffled over to drop me in the stretcher, I noticed the source of the feeling at my hips earlier was a thick branch from lower on the tree that must've been broken as I fell, but the more concerning part was the little stub in the middle of it that looked as if someone had painted it red.

But not just any red, no, as nothing can be that simple when I'm dealing with Haruhi's adventures, but it had to be a blood red.

They begin loading me into the back of the van rather quickly, and as they do, I catch a glimpse of Haruhi arguing with one of the men, with Miss Asahina looking worried behind her, and Nagato neutral as ever right by them, which gives me confidence, as if Nagato acted worried even in the least, I would probably give up on myself right there.

Though, this does remind me that I noticed Koizumi entering the front of the van, but before I can wonder why, the men are strapping me in, and I hear Haruhi for what I wonder to be the last time.

"What do you mean we can't ride with him? We're the S.O.S Brigade! You can't just seperate us like this!"

"Ma'am, you have to understand, we can't let anyone back there when he's in this kind of condition."

"But you don't know Kyon! He's really a sensitive type! His spirit will be boosted to survive and fight if he sees us there supporting him!" As if.

"I'm sorry, but it's illegal. You'd all get in the way, and we can't risk the patient's health. You want what's best for him right?"

"Of course! That's why I'm trying to get in there! He wants, no, needs us with him right now!"

"We can't debate over this any further, just get in the other truck, it'll follow us to the hospital. If we stay here any longer, it may be too late for him!"

"Suzumiya-san!" That was Koizumi?.. It was hard to tell. It sounded far away. "You can ride up her with me, we have room. The others will be in the back tending to Kyon-kun. Asahina-san, Yuki-chan, please ride in the second truck and follow us."

"Affirmitive." Far away or not, that one was obvious to me. I could always tell Nagato when I heard her, and after not even noticing her until just a few moments ago, her voice was as sweet as Mikuru-chan's. Well, not really, but the point I'm trying to put across is the same: I liked hearing her voice right now.

The man arguing with Haruhi stepped into the van, and the two men nearest the entrance slammed the doors shut, but not before I noticed Haruhi gazing in with -- dare I say? -- worry in her eyes.

Now that the doors have finally closed, the man who entered last steps over and turns on the light, though despite this, the world seems to be growing darker, and my consciousness seems to be slipping further from me.

The last thing I feel, the truck vibrating as its engine is turned on, the last thing I hear, Haruhi calling for the driver to wait, the last thing I think, nothing.

.  
.  
.  
.  
.

* * *

I couldn't tell you how much time I spent laying in this bed before I awoke, not that it's 'Classified Information' (bless you, my tea-angel), but that in all honesty I can't even get a grip on it right now myself. It was even a mystery to me and if I had to be honest with you, that'd be my first question as well.

But for now, I just lay here in the silk gown (oh god [or would it be 'Oh Haruhi'? they undressed me) in the silk bed-sheets with my head on the silk pillow case as I listen to the flapping of the silk window shades. And then, I hear a soft noise. It was faint, but familiar, one I'm used to hearing, but I can't quite identify it due to the distraction of the open window and priorly mentioned shades, so I bide my time until I hear it again.

Nothing. Not an ant skitter across the floor, or the squeak of a mouse at all, which I suppose I should be thankful for, and then I hear it.

This time, I've grabbed it. I know what it is, and it makes me smile. The rubbing of those thin grey papers all those big books use to make them smaller and more appealing, until you open them up and find out that each two dozen pages is only an inch when stacked together, and it doesn't seem to be half as appealing as it did a second ago.

Regardless, I know it's Nagato. With reason to now, I open my eyes and turn to look at her. I take note of how her small mouth is pulled into what one would normally call a frown, but I knew it was just her usual face, and I move to speak, but I'm interrupted.

"Kyon, you're awake!" No, it wasn't Nagato. What are you doing here, Haruhi?

"You shouldn't speak, Kyon! Maintain your strength!" I'm not dead yet, Haruhi, but I can only hope I'm not dying yet either. I can't help but feel suddenly happy to be surrounded by people at least somewhat, though I guess two people really makes that a stretch assumption. Regardless, You never answered my question.

"We're the S.O.S Brigade, idiot! We couldn't just leave you alone in a situation like this. We all were ready to stay by your side!" So I see, though this we has an underlying implication that Koizumi and Asahina are here? Seeming to guess at this, Haruhi looks back to the door. "The doctor wouldn't let more than two of us in here at once due to space limitations, but they're in the waiting room. Mikuru-chan still hasn't stopped shivering!" And I mentally picture this in my head, and it nearly makes me swoon right over the edge of the bed.

"I will inform them of this latest development." She says this as she closes her book with a force, and Haruhi seems surprised, as if she didn't know she was there this whole time. Nagato just stands up, and without any indication she recognizes my presence, she leaves. The least she could've done was glance at me, but no, I received nothing. Cold, Nagato.

"Ahh, so, Kyon.. How are you feeling? You look pretty beat up." And for the first time I'm conscious of my surroundings in full. The tubes I'm hooked up to, the needles sticking from my arms, and the beeping machines that stand next to me and between myself and the sac of blood they're having pump into my arm.

"Fine, I guess. Sore of course, but I fell on my ass, so what do you expect?"

"Well excuse me for showing concern!" she retorted, huffing at me. I mentally smile and she seems to be content too despite her display, though probably only at the fact that I'm acting myself. I feel pretty fine, actually. Do I have her and her powers to thank for that?

"Mmm." is all the acknowledgment to her little outburst of temper I give her, and glance over at the clock. Should you be in class, Haruhi?

"Oh, about that," she starts, before getting barring her jaws like a great white that just smelled blood in the water. I don't know whether she was grinning from pride or fuming with anger. "We've been suspended for an undetermined amount of days, they told us. They said we were trespassing by coming at night and even though it was a club activity, they said we needed recognition and permission from the school council head to mess around in the dark like that. Honestly, though! Isn't that the point of having a club? To have a little independence from the school's rules and to make your own path? If we were to run to them with every little thing it'd take all the fun out of it! We're responsible, we can make educated choices by ourselves!"

I refuse to bring up the current incident and the repercussions that we've suffered now, or I've suffered, and how immature and irresponsible that makes us seem. I don't need her biting my head off, since I feel so 'okay' right now, oddly enough.

So, instead, I just huff and lean back into the pillow, reeling in the way it just seems to meld to my body. Now if only the room didn't have such a brilliant shine to it, I'd be pretty damn happy right here.

I wish it could stay that way, but it doesn't seem that my luck has changed in the slightest after my fall. The next thing I know, there's a small red box shoved in my face, with a green cross wrapped over it and a matching olive bow place right on the intersection in the middle. I turn to see Haruhi holding it at me and viewing me with an odd expression.

It was like the time when she offered me her umbrella back at school, with her mouth pulled into one small and thin line, and her eyes seemed to hold no emotion but had an overbearing sense of expectation. But as she was looking straight at me this time, I couldn't help but feel the need to shiver from her eyes. She seemed to be waiting on me, and it almost was like she was vulnerable now, and that she was putting herself on the line emotionally for this, meaning my reaction would determine her mood.

So I did what I had to do and gripped the box, slowly and delicately pulling the ribbon apart, and unfolding the paper. With her hands freed, she intertwined her fingers and held them between her thighs, leaning forward and glaring at the box with the same look as if she herself didn't know what she had put in there.

As I finished, I meticulously lifted the lid, and immediately I noticed the familiar red cloth and black kanji scribbled on it. I couldn't see it, but I could feel her same look piercing into the side of my face. I rolled it around a bit in my hands, feeling it and rubbing it with my thumbs as I inspected it. Satisfied that it was the genuine article, I chanced a look at her arm and sure enough, it wasn't there. This was the real thing.

Why she would give me her 'Brigade Chief' forearm marker was beyond me, but it probably had some secret meaning to her I would be stupid to upset. Why did you give me something like this, Haruhi? It doesn't make any sense.

"Because, Kyon, only Itsuki, Mikuru-chan, Yuki-chan and myself were suspended: you've been left alone. They stated that your injuries were probably punishment enough."

"So...?"

"Sooo?! You don't get it? You have to take over! I need you to take my role as the S.O.S Brigade Chief in my absence! We can't have the school think we're slacking off and so easy to defeat! It'll ruin our reputation!"

So you want me to handle it? You don't seem to realize that in the state I'm in, I've got little chance of going back to school before any of you, despite how long your suspension is, which is fine with me, as I'm in no hurry to brush up on my studies of the periodic table's trends in atomic radii and density, or in the fundamental theorem behind derivatives.

"You should be honored, Kyon. It's showing how much I trust you to lead the brigade!" Which I wouldn't be doing anyway, since I wasn't like the last remaining member that wasn't on suspension, right? "Think of it as an early Christmas present. But don't expect anything more from me! This is it! And don't be late in returning it, alright? Or you'll suffer the Death Penalty!" And despite this outrageous threat, I can see her smiling, and the thin pink spreading under her eyes and across her cheeks. She's not just smiling, but beaming with some kind of happy emotion that she always seemed to be against possessing, much less showing.

Her canines are showing, and it's unbelievable how bright the rest of her teeth are shining as she just sits there with an insane grin on, and I grip the fabric of the cloth between my fingers, and can't help but laugh inside as well, though I don't go as far as to do more than perk up the edges of my mouth.

But it stirs something inside of me, and I can almost feel why I should be honored at accepting a gift from Haruhi like this, as something so simple may not hold dollar value, but it always seemed to be important to her, and that makes me happy as well. And I refuse to acknowledge the questioning and nagging of my emotions as to the identity of my true feelings, and I refuse to acknowledge it any more than this, as I always told myself I wouldn't be like those cliche guys from the books.

So I just look at her smiling, and I smile too.

"Merry Christmas, Alright, Kyon-_kun_?"

Alright, Haruhi. Merry Christmas.

* * *

Hmmm. So I guess there was some fluffness in the end, 'eh? Though I did take the cheap way out, I needed to end it soon. I realized alot of it was just rambling, but that was just the way I do things. I start off with a simple idea, begin it, and then follow my mind to whatever it says is best. I'm a very instinctual person. 

I hope at-least some of you enjoyed it, and even if one person did, then that'll be pretty worth it. I enjoyed writing it myself, so I've already come out on top.

And for those of you wondering about the state of the characters? Well, personally I define OOC as a way a character couldn't possibly act, but I can see Haruhi and Kyon acting this way under the right circumstances which I tried to put them in here, but maybe you, the reader, are the kind that view OOC as anything different from how they usually act. That's fine, there's nothing I can do about that, but I'm just rambling even more now, aren't I?

But one final thing! To those of you who caught the Star Wars reference I threw in there on a whim, good for you. Hope you got the same kind of little grin I did when I thought of adding it.


End file.
